Starting from scratch:

It was quite an endeavor for me to start my own literary agency.
You have to find the right name and the right type of projects to work
on as a literary agent. You have to find ways to let writers know about
your agency and what qualifies you to be a literary agent. You as an
agent need to make sure that the websites that list your agency are
legitimate and professional, and keep accurate listings of your agency.

When it comes to acquiring clients, you need to have a firm
understanding of public relations and what is good and creative writing.
The world is filled with writers who all want to be published and they
will bang down your door for the chance. You have to swim your way
through a sea of submissions and figure out which manuscripts are the
right projects for you to be working on. You have to take the time and
the dedication to read each manuscript thoroughly, sometimes even with a
microscope, to make sure that it is a quality work that stands a chance
of getting published.

If you see a manuscript that has potential but is not quite ready for
publishing, you should not make the mistake of casting the submission
aside and moving on, but work with the author to make it the best work
possible so that it has a chance to be published. That is what an agent
does for a living - helps writers with their writing and gets them
published. I know this can add to the great burden agents face of
handling submissions, but a good agent doesn't mind the work. Most
agents throw away submissions that they are not interested in after the
first read. To find the right clients, the ones who have talent and are
dedicated to their craft, I usually read a submission twice before I
decide whether to pass or to pursue it.

As a new agent, you have to have a lot of faith that you can make
those manuscripts that come your way sell to the right publishers. You
have to believe in yourself as well and understand that publishing has
been and probably always will be a subjective business based on the
opinions of those who work in the publishing industry. What one
publisher doesn't want to publish may be the perfect project for
another. As a literary agent you have to find out who is publishing what
and when, and find the right manuscripts to submit to them so that your
clients stand the best chance of getting published.

And you need to be able to not take rejections to heart. If a project
you take on doesn't go the way you planned, it just means it wasn't the
right project for you. You have to be very determined and strong-willed
to make it as a literary agent. There are some agents who give up very
quickly and decide to find new careers or give up on a project so
quickly that they never make any sales as an agent for their whole
agenting career.

Another thing about being a literary agent is that you need to be
dedicated, professional and honest, and work very hard. You need to try
your hardest to sell the manuscripts you feel are publishable to the
right publisher. If you manage to sell a manuscript to a publisher, but
they are not the right one, then the book will fail once published.

Another thing I have learned about being a literary agent is that
location is something that is very important. You need to make sure you
are near enough to the publishing world to be kept in the loop and know
who is publishing what and where and when. It is very hard to stay
connected to the publishing world and do your job properly as a literary
agent if you are so far away from the publishing action that it takes
too long or becomes difficult to get your clients' manuscripts submitted
to the publishers.

Professionalism is probably one of The Most Important Things a good
and legitimate literary agent needs to have when establishing a new
agency and making a successful career as a literary agent. You need to
know how to handle submissions to publishers properly and the correct
way to conduct contract negotiations. No publisher in the world is going
to bother to read a query from an agent who does not speak and write
clearly about what it is they are trying to submit - and why they think
that particular publisher is the right one for that project. It can be
quite off-putting to the publisher, and more often than not they will
ignore the submission, and, worse yet, may even stop accepting
submissions from that agent because they are too unprofessional or even
incompetent.

Another thing you need to know about being a literary agent and
starting a new agency is that it can be exciting and stressful and
wonderful and overwhelming in one jolt. You need to know your limit and
make sure you don't bite off more than you can chew. Some agents take on
way too many projects and too many different projects all at once, and
soon find they are daunted and dazed and confused, and have no idea what
they are doing. This is not good for a literary agent. A good agent
knows when they have taken on too many projects and need to stop for a
while.

Julia Levin majored in English literature and English Language
and then worked for many years as a fiction writer. This developed her
interest in becoming a literary agent because she saw how hard it was
for writers to get representation for their work. She set up the Jane
Dowary Literary Agency in 2013.